Kavit Surati (33), is the first Bob Proctor coaching consultant for personal development in Maharashtra and amongst the only five such consultants in India. He recently started his personal development coaching ‘You beyond Possible’ with an aim to help people unlock the potential that each one of us is born with.
Surati, who is born and brought up in the United Kingdom, had a decade-old successful career as a chartered civil engineer with leading corporates in countries like UK, Spain and United Arab emirates. He moved to Pune in July 2017 when his wife got an assignment in the city. “I decided to quit my job and be a stay-at-home father for my kids for whatever time it takes, so that they feel settled in India. I asked my wife to focus on her career and do what the company had asked her to do,” he recalls.
In his student days, Surati was often scolded by his parents for getting poor grades. He considered himself to be a C-grade player and never really aspired for better grades. “Before University, I was not achieving anything at all. I was a C-grade player and accepted it. My teachers always told me that I have potential but I am not using it. I never believed them and every time I got a C-grade, it reinforced my belief. So I was shocked when the University of Warwick accepted my application and called me for an entrance interview. They saw something in me which I didn’t. During my first year, all students around me had good grades whereas I felt like an imposter, I felt I didn’t belong to this university,” he says.
It was a personal tragedy that took place while he was pursuing his Masters in Civil engineering from University of Warwick that changed Surti’s life and also laid the foundation of his passion for personal development. Says the coaching consultant, “During the first year, several weeks before my exams, my grandmother passed away. She was more like a mother to me since she was the one who had raised me. My whole world came crushing down. I stopped studying and wanted to drop out from the university. I went to my faculty and told them so. They were shocked. I explained to them my situation. But they persuaded me to give exams and said they will give a five per cent increment considering my situation. This little motivation and some study did it — I got a B minus. I thought to myself, ‘My aspiration was to get a C minus and after all the events that happened in life, I have still managed to get a B minus’. I realised that there is more in me than I think. In just one day, I started believing in myself. I started setting goals and gradually achieving all of them. My whole behaviour started changing. I realised that whatever I believe I can do, I am able to achieve it.”
After seven or eight months, when his family settled in India, he decided to resume his career but he was unsure of the right opportunity in the engineering sector. After contemplating for a couple of months, he realised that personal development is his calling. Says he, “Personal development is my passion. I spent more time studying it than I spent learning Engineering. I shared with my wife that I really wanted to go into this field. Initially, doing something out of my profession scared me because I always looked at myself as an engineer — that is my identity. Although I believed in myself and was passionate about personal development, I was worried as to what will people think about me if I chose it. Anyway, after contemplating for a couple of months, I made a decision that this is what I want to do. Then the questions came — How to do it and since I want to become a coach in a more credible way, what is the best way to do it?”
Surati decided to tie up with Bob Proctor, who is a world-renowned speaker, motivational coach, to use a methodology that is already proven and recognised at the global level.
Recently, he started working as a life transformation coach. Currently, he is working with the corporates in Pune and helping them in achieving their organisational goals. “As a coaching consultant, I want people to understand who they really are, how they have been mentally programmed and how they can take complete ownership of their mind. The need of the hour is to master your mind and channelise your power and energy in a constructive manner, directing it towards your goal. My aim is to encourage positive growth in each individual by rewiring their mindset to impact their performance, behaviour and habits which will ultimately help them achieve the desired results,” he adds.
Surati, a father of two, feels that apart from corporates and individuals, children too need to learn these skills. “Children are the future leaders and it is very important to teach them the art of believing in themselves. Mental and mind awareness is of prime importance but it is not a subject at school. It is very difficult to teach chidren about believing in themselves to achieve goals. So I feel the best way is to educate parents about it so that they can guide their children better for a bright future,” he says and signs off.